Lee points out that since 2007 households have been a net seller
of stocks, and have shrunk the amount of their financial assets
in stocks by 18.6% since that time.

"This is the largest liquidation in history and surpasses
the 10% liquidation during the decade from 1979 to
1989—that was the precedent decade
before the massive inflows into equities in the 1990s," said
Lee.

"The largest decline has been direct ownership of stocks (down $2
trillion) and this reflects the buyback programs of US
corporates," wrote Lee. "Essentially, they have been buying
equity holdings from households (institutional ownership of
stocks is essentially the same). The only area of purchases has
been domestic equity ETFs."

In Lee's opinion, this is going to turn around given attractive
valuations and "the tendency of mean reversion," which will in
turn help stocks move higher.

The problem is, as studies have shows, when retail investors get
hit by recessions as large as the last one, it
takes longer than normal for them to get back into the market
again.

No matter where it goes going forward, it's clear that so far
this cycle Americans have despised the stock market.